Archive By Author - Andrea Goodwin

Oakdale families are invited to celebrate their loved ones with the Oak Valley Hospital Foundation's Tree of Life. Donors can purchase a light on the tree in memory of a lost loved one or in honor of a survivor. Anyone can purchase a light and they are not specifically for one disease or disorder.

Oakdale City Council members wasted no time appropriating Measure O sales tax dollars. The tax collection does not go into effect until April, but the council budgeted nearly $260,000 of the money at their recent meeting to keep two firefighter positions, two police officers, and operations of the senior and community centers. The adopted 2011-2012 budget included only partial funding for each of those services and hinged on the passing of Measure O to avoid cuts.

Oakdale will deck its halls for the holidays on Friday, Dec. 2 with the annual lighting of the Oakdale Christmas tree. This year's tree lighting was organized and sponsored by the Oakdale Garden Club, and will include 30 smaller trees, each sponsored by local organizations.

Measure O, a ballot initiative to increase sales tax by .5 percent within Oakdale City limits, has passed in the preliminary election results. Just over 56 percent of voters approved the sales tax increase, which will add one half cent to every $1 purchase made in Oakdale. This tax will go into effect on April 1, 2012 and will end March 31, 2015. Revenue from the tax will go directly to Oakdale's general fund.

Did you vote on Nov. 8? If not, you weren't alone. According to Stanislaus County Registrar of Voters Lee Lundrigan's office, there were 35,876 ballots counted for the unofficial results released on Nov. 9. There are 15,000 or so vote-by-mail ballots that still have to be counted before the official results are released on or before Nov. 21. In a county of 514,453 people, only 227,278 are registered voters, and only around 60,000 people actually voted in this election.

Measure O, a half-cent sales tax increase, was passed by Oakdale voters on Tuesday. 56% of the voting public approved the measure, which will raise sales tax on items purchased in Oakdale by one half of one percent. The tax will be collected starting April 1, 2012 and expires March 31, 2015. The Oakdale City Council, City Manager and financial advisors met on Wednesday to set goals for the year and discuss the impact that the sales tax will have on the City of Oakdale's budget and spending. For the full story see the Nov. 16 issue of the ...

Upgrades and repairs to the Oakdale Wastewater Treatment Plant are almost complete, but Oakdale City Council members would like some assurance that the engineering and construction meets industry standards. Final costs for the entire upgrade are estimated between $12 million and $13 million. The peer review process will cost an additional $30,000 to the sewer enterprise funds.

In somewhat of a surprise move, the Oak Valley Hospital District Board of Directors announced this week that CEO John Friel will be placed on administrative leave until the end of his contract in February 2012. Current Chief Financial Officer John McCormick will take over as interim CEO.

The Oak Valley Hospital District Board of Directors voted on Wednesday to put CEO John Friel on administrative leave for the remainder of his contract. Chief Financial Officer John McCormick will take over as interim CEO on Nov. 1. For more information see the full story in the Nov. 2 issue of the Oakdale Leader.

Oak Valley Care Center will hold their annual Halloween Safe Door-to-Door Trick or Treat event on Monday, The event is open to the public and Oak Valley Care Center residents invite all local families to attend.

St. Matthias Church in Oakdale is welcoming a change in leadership from both a new Deacon-in-Charge and a new Diocesan Bishop. The Right Reverend Dr. Eric Menees, Diocesan Bishop of the more than 40 parishes in the Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin, was installed on Oct. 22. His first parish visit as Diocesan Bishop was to St. Matthias in Oakdale.

My journey to baseball enlightenment was a long one. I've never been what you would call a "sports enthusiast." I played basketball in fourth grade but could never locate the "key" everyone kept talking about and I never understood why I couldn't just hold the ball and run. That would make the game a whole lot easier, wouldn't it? I played softball in a rec league in middle school with similar results. I spent most of my time out in left field picking four-leaf clovers and hoping the ball would not come my way, because I couldn ...

Discussion at the Oakdale City Council was heated on Monday night, Oct. 17 during a review of the proposed 2050 agricultural preservation map. The map is a countywide effort to prepare a growth plan through the year 2050 to present to the Local Agency Formation Committee by December. The map will potentially serve as a guideline for a ballot initiative taken to voters some time next year.

Oakdale's General Plan update process is ready to move forward after the Oakdale Planning Commission and the Oakdale City Council hosted their last public study session on Monday night, Oct. 10. The joint meeting was the last in a series of public workshops to draft the language of the updated general plan.

After two years of construction, $90 million dollars, and thousands of man-hours spent, the new Oak Valley Hospital will be open to the public on Dec. 10 for community tours. The pre-opening will be a one-day only event, and the new hospital building will not be in use until early 2012.